I had too much luggage.

It was a little unusual, because in the last few years, I traveled with only a carry-on, a backpack and a purse. However, since we were going to be gone over three weeks, I packed a medium-size check-in bag, and a wheeled carry-on. I also had a shoulder bag in which I put my essentials like my passport, wallet, and cash, plus I had a jacket.

This is what I was burdened with when Bill Potter and I scheduled an Uber from our Paris hotel at 6:00 am. We enjoyed breakfast in the Lufthansa lounge before taking off for Zurich with only a short layover, then flew business class in an eight-hour flight to JFK airport in New York City.

That’s when the adventure began.

I sped through Global Entry while Bill discovered that there were no Mobile Passport Control stations set up, so he had to stand for at least 45 minutes in the regular passport line. By that time, I retrieved my big suitcase as well as Bill’s checked bag and waited for him. It turns out he was pulled aside for further questioning, but was released without incident.

I had researched the internet and thought we could take a bus to Newark airport where our hotel was located but discovered that this option was no longer possible. We would have to take FOUR trains to Newark!

1. JFK AirTrain to Jamaica Station:
Take the AirTrain from the terminal at JFK to Jamaica Station. This is a free service within the airport. 
2. Long Island Railroad from Jamaica to New York Penn Station:
At Jamaica Station, purchase a ticket for the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and board a train to New York Penn Station. 
3. New Jersey Transit from New York Penn Station to Newark Airport:
At New York Penn Station, transfer to New Jersey Transit and take a train to Newark Airport. 
4. EWR AirTrain to your terminal:
Once at Newark Airport Station, take the AirTrain to Parking Terminal 4, where we can catch our hotel shuttle.

With every train change, we had to take all our luggage:

Up. Down. Get on the train. Ride. Get off the train. Look for the elevator. (In some cases, there was no elevator and we had to schlep all the luggage on the escalator.)

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

It’s now Sunday morning and it’s been four days since we got home. I’m still not able to sleep past 2 am, which is what time it is as I am writing this! Rather than stay in bed and toss and turn, I have been getting up and preparing my music for this weekend’s three services. As I have written in previous posts, I assemble a book for each service containing all the music in order, requiring that I print and/or copy each page of the music, then punch holes in the copies, trimming pages to fold up easily when taped together. It’s a lot of cutting and pasting, otherwise known as “Arts and Crafts!”

Yesterday I was back at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, playing the funeral for a former parishioner, Adriane Clissold, whom I’ve known since my early days at the parish — fifty years ago! She called me in May and asked if I would play the organ for the service, and we even scheduled the date based on my return from Europe. We had a great time, talking about the old days with my husband, Carl. As her obituary said: “Adriane lived with deep aloha, resilience, humor, and a heart wide open. Whether you knew her as Auntie, Mom, friend, teacher, or mentor, her light surely touched you.”

I have to admit I took extra care to choose the music, based on what she would have liked, and in the end I played ten pieces of music: four pieces for a ten-minute prelude, three hymns, two pieces for communion, and two postludes. Plus for the liturgy, I transcribed for organ and played the Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation, Great Amen, Lord’s Prayer, and Lamb of God from my sister’s “Alleluia Mass.” It was originally written for piano, guitar, flute and violin, but those instruments are no longer available. So — that’s what I’ve been doing every morning at 2 am!

You can view the service here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/16CWEjikxe/

I would also like to share organist Ethan Haman’s short video of the organ music at Notre Dame Cathedral which you can find here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19T5BR89iq. We were at Notre Dame on the same day (!) and Vincent Dubois was the organist for all the services.

It was a great trip!